Dark-matter particles could 'X-ray' the Sun

An intriguing particle first glimpsed last year, which could be related to particles that make up the universe’s dark matter, might help us see right through the sun.

The particle in question is the axion. It was originally proposed to fix a problem with the strong force in particle physics, but has more recently been considered as a candidate for dark matter, the mysterious, unseen stuff thought to make up nearly 90 per cent of galaxies’ mass. Last year an experiment at the Legnaro National Laboratory in Legnaro, Italy, provided tantalising hints of an axion, but it …